I'm the founding partner of Proteus International, and author of Growing Great Employees, Being Strategic, and Leading So People Will Follow. You can follow me on Twitter @erikaandersen. My websites are erikaandersen.com, and www.proteus-international.com. I'm insatiably curious. I love figuring out how people, situations and objects work, and how they could work better: faster, smarter, deeper, with greater satisfaction, more affection, and a higher fun quotient.

3 Lessons Leaders Can Learn From Spiderman

Spiderman is one of my favorite superheroes. He wasn’t born a superhero, like Superman, and he isn’t a fake superhero, like Batman, who’s really just a screwed-up guy with great gadgets.

Spiderman acquired his powers suddenly as a young adult, through a quirk of fate. Very similar to the way most people become leaders. And the core principles that make Spiderman a force for good in the world are pretty much exactly the same ones that can make leaders a force for good in an organization.

So, without further ado:

With great power comes great responsibility. This is the one everybody knows; Spidey’s credo, shared by his dying uncle/father figure. It really should be core to every leader’s thinking. I read a wonderful post here on Forbes today by Glen Llopis. One of my favorite lines in it is, “People in power are faced with temptation every day. They often must make choices between doing what is right for the organization and what is in their own best interests.” I think that’s precisely true, and the heart of this lesson: as you gain power in an organization, you have increasing opportunity to make decisions and act in ways that are selfish, short-sighted, and reactive (and that hurt others, either personally or professionally). However, you can also choose to make decisions and behave in ways that are generous, far-sighted, thoughtful…that support others’ growth and success. Great leaders know that they have a deep human obligation to use the gift of power for the greater good. And their employees and companies thrive as a result of this commitment to the responsible use of power.

Be who you are. When Spidey got catapulted into superhero-dom by that radioactive spider, he struggled with his new identity. It took him a while to figure out how to be himself – geeky, smart, compassionate, shy – and still be a superhero. Most of us who get thrown into leadership roles go through a similar struggle. Who am I now that I’m a leader? Do I have to be a different person? (e.g., know all the answers, never let them see me sweat, work till midnight, tell people what to do all the time?). Good leaders realize that there are skills and capabilities they must learn and practice in order to be effective leaders and managers. But they also know that they are who they are….and that’s a good thing. The leaders who people want to follow aren’t trying to be somebody else, some made-up version of who they think they should be as a leader. That always feels awkard, fake, and untrust-able. Good leaders are comfortable in their own skin, confident in their own gifts – and that allows everyone around the to operate in the same way.

Do good things even if you don’t get the credit. Spiderman is often misunderstood and maligned. The local newspaper goes through phases of thinking he’s a villain; people question his motives; mothers tell their kids not to emulate him. But he keeps on fighting crime (even though he sometimes gets disheartened). Good leaders don’t do the right thing just because their boss is watching, and they don’t stop doing the right thing when nobody’s noticing or when someone else gets the credit. They do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do…even when it’s hard. And that demonstration of courage and integrity inspires others to behave in the same way, shifting the whole axis of the company toward trustworthiness.

Like Spiderman, great leaders know that at the end of every day, they will have to judge themselves based on how they’ve used the gifts they’ve been given. And they take pride in being able to say honestly, “Today I did the best I was capable of doing.”

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